Kathryn Ryan; Noted Author and Editor

VERO BEACH, Fla. — Kathryn Morgan Ryan, an author and editor best known for the book “A Private Battle” about her author-husband’s struggle with cancer, has died of emphysema at a hospital here. She was 68.

Mrs. Ryan, who died Tuesday, had worked for the Conde Nast publications House and Garden magazine, House and Home, and Architectural Forum. She was also a senior writer for Time magazine.

“A Private Battle” detailed the cancer fight of her husband, Cornelius Ryan, the author of several well-known books on World War II, including “The Longest Day,” “A Bridge Too Far” and “The Last Battle.” Mrs. Ryan assisted him with those books and was the technical adviser for the movie version of “A Bridge Too Far.” She was married for 24 years to Ryan, who died in 1974.

She was an honorary member of four paratroop units: the 82nd and 101st Airborne units, the British 1st Airborne Division and the 1st Polish Independent Parachute Brigade.

Mrs. Ryan also wrote the book “The Betty Tree,” a novel about Midwestern attitudes and adolescent children coping with their parents.

She was born in Rose Hill, Iowa, and grew up in Oscaloosa, Iowa. She attended the University of Missouri School of Journalism.

Mrs. Ryan is survived by a daughter, Victoria Ryan Bida of Penfield, N.Y.; a son, Geoffrey John Morgan Ryan of Los Angeles, and three grandchildren.